The Hype, Lies and Pressure in MLM

In today’s post I’m going to talk about the hype, lies and pressure in MLM. I’m going to talk about certain things that SOME distributors do that give our industry a bad reputation. I realize that most distributors try to do the right thing, but there are definitely a few bad apples that give our industry a bad name.

I should begin by telling you that I hate HYPE, lies and pressure – especially hype.

I don’t see any value in doing any of these things to grow your business. Not only do they make you look like an amateur, and criminal, but they also hurt everyone else in our industry.

Let’s start with hype. Hype is when you make wild and crazy exaggerations. It’s when you to try to excite your prospect by making them promises about easy money and getting rich quick. You probably know the type of distributor I’m talking about. They’re so excited about making the big bucks. All they talk about is the big money in the industry. They look at this industry as an answer to their immediate financial problems and they focus on recruiting financially destitute people by making them think they will get rich quick.

All they do is talk about how easy it is to make lots of money with their company. They’re vamped up, like someone who just drank 10 energy drinks. They share their excitement with others hoping to find the next sucker.

My advice for anyone using hype is to stop it immediately. This is a real business, not a lottery ticket. You have to realize that what goes up must come down. You might “hype” someone into joining, but as soon as that hype fades, your new distributor will enter the Witness Protection Program and you will never hear from the again.

Keep it real with people. It’s okay to be excited, but keep your excitement under CONTROL.

The next thing is the lies. Some distributors will tell you ANYTHING they think you want to hear to get you to join their team or be a customer. They are so desperate to sponsor someone into their business, that they will lie out of their you know what. They make false income claims, they will lie about what the products can do, or they are deceptive when answering questions.

My advice for anyone who does this is to stop it immediately. You wouldn’t like it if someone lied to you so don’t do it to others. Be honest with people. Tell the truth. Never tell people what you think they want to hear. At the end of the day, people want to hear the truth. And the truth is good enough.

Yes, you might lose some prospects because you are being honest. That’s okay. I’d rather lose someone because I told them the truth than sponsor someone because I lied to them. I have a conscious and I have no desire to lie just to get someone to join my team.

Next, we’re going to talk about the pressure. Oh, I hate pressure. I’m sure you do as well. This is when you act like a high pressure used car salesman. You corner people and pressure them UNTIL they make a decision to join your team. Most of the people who “join” under your pressure will do so just to get you off of their backs. As soon as you leave, they will quit.

My advice for anyone using pressure is to stop it immediately.

Your job is not to pressure or convince anyone. Instead, your job is to sift and sort through your prospects to find the right people. No one likes to be pressured. I know I don’t. Your real job is to give your prospect accurate information, let them decide what they want to do and then to work with the willing.

Although most distributors in our industry do the right thing, there are few snake oil salesmen who use hype, lies and pressure to recruit people into the business. Normally, the industry has a way of weeding these folks out, but they can do some serious damage before this happens.

At the end of the day, you should choose to be a professional and do the right thing.

People are naturally attracted to professionals. Be honest. Keep it real with others. Contain your enthusiasm and emotions. Sift and sort people, don’t sell.

The bottom line is to do the right thing. Do what’s right and good things will happen to you. Do the wrong thing, and you might make it to the top temporarily, but you will fall right back to where you belong: the gutter.

What are your thoughts about the lies, hype and pressure in MLM? Leave a comment below to let me know what you think. I look forward to hearing from you.

It is my opinion that all network marketing companies should make policies regarding outright lying. I believe that if a distributor is caught telling lies to further their business, the MLM should drop them.

It is the lies and hype that have given network marketing a bad name. I have been turned off by such things and had nothing to do with the company after. I have found that many of these companies are quite reputable, it was that particular representative that ruined it. In doing so, he/she not only hurts themselves, but also hurts the company. This is why they should create policies banning liars.

Greg, what an interesting point you make about banning liars in the industry. I would be interested to see some sort of policy enacted and how exactly that policy would be mandated and enforced. There would have to be some sort of solidified proof the distributor lied and that may be hard to do. It seems like it would open the door for he said, she said debates and even allow for lazy people or people who simply didn’t reach personal goals to make false claims about a distributor out of anger. Nevertheless, I do think some type of policy needs to be put in place to hold people accountable, I am just not sure how that would happen.

You make a very good point Diamond. Since I have been the victim in just that type of scenario, I completely understand your concerns.

Yes, I think it would have to be absolute proof. We can find that in many websites, blogs, and emails. I have seen people outright lie in many forms in writing. A good example is posting your network marketing opportunity as a job on Craigslist. That is a lie. Now if you post it as a business opportunity, that is much different.

It is just the ones who have been caught red handed that should be banned in my opinion. Hopefully by doing that, MLMs would instill a fear into others who may be tempted to lie.

Honesty is always the best policy. No need to sell people a dream only to have reality come crashing down on them. That simply makes people angry and bitter and that is not good for business at all. Give people the respect of telling them what is real- the good, bad, and the not so simple. People will come to respect you more for sharing everything with them as opposed to misleading them.

So many network marketers need to read this post. You are correct Chuck….It is these 3 items that have hurt the MLM reputation the most. For one thing, hype immediately turns me off. When someone comes to me like they are on a rocket ship with a product or opportunity, I will usually run the other way. Being positive and being hyped are 2 different things. Lies never work because they will be discovered. Pressure was out when aluminum siding went away. We need to allow the products or opportunity to sell itself.

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